740
Barnabas has Sandor find the grave of Laura Stockbridge Collins who died in 1785. Synopsis : The time is 1897, and Collinwood is a place of intrigue and fear for the strange events which happen here are beyond the comprehension of most. But Barnabas Collins, on a mission to save a boy's life, knows more than the others. And as he tries to piece together their story, he endangers his own survival. A doctor told the others that a mysterious animal made the marks on Charity. Barnabas tells Magda he will return Sandor to her in good time. Magda tells him there will be an end to this but not the end he wants. Barnabas sends Magda to spy on Laura. Barnabas finds out Laura Stockbridge Collins died in a fire in 1785 and wonders if Joshua covered up the real cause. She is buried under the old meeting house. Edward admits he used to love Laura. He never knew how to stop her. He asks for Barnabas's help. This is the first time Barnabas has heard Edward use her name. Edward knows little about her: she was born in New York but went to an Eastern seaboard college. She supposedly has an aunt in the Midwest. He wrote to the college to find out about the aunt’s address but the college wrote back that there is no Laura Murdoch. Magda reads the cards for Laura and death comes up twice. They find Quentin's doll. Laura tells Magda to put the portrait in the chest. Magda has put up curtains in the cottage and dusted. When Sandor starts to unbury the coffin/crypt opening using a hammer, Laura can hear and feel it. It seems to disturb or weaken her. Magda hears nothing. Memorable quotes : Magda: (speaking to Barnabas) The evil, it follows you always. The evil here never stops. : Sandor: Your one flaw, Magda, you always look on the bad side. ---- : Magda: (to Sandor) Your master has uncovered another secret at Collinwood. ---- : Barnabas: I am studying death Sandor and the means to defeat it. ---- : Laura: (on the portrait of Laura Stockbridge Collins) Does my chin really look that pointed? Dramatis personae * Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins * Louis Edmonds as Edward Collins * Grayson Hall as Magda * Thayer David as Sandor * Diana Millay as Laura Collins Background information and notes Production * The end credits have a flashing light in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Story * Magda was at Collinwood when Laura was last at Collinwood (i.e. before Laura left to follow Quentin). * Laura Stockbridge posed for her portrait in the Old House; Barnabas was witness. She died in the year 1785 and was buried in the crypt under the old meeting house. The crypt containing Laura Stockbridge looks almost exactly like that of Laura Murdoch Stockbridge who died in the year 1767, as seen in 154. * Edward met Laura in Collinsport. She apparently grew up in New York, had an aunt in the Middle West, and attended college on the East Coast. The college has no record of Laura having ever attended. * How did Laura escape burial or the crypt? Was she ever buried in the first place? (In the previous storyline of the Phoenix, running from 123 to 192, whenever the Phoenix dies in fire and then is reborn in the fiery nest, the original body that which is buried, disappears and is given over to the Phoenix. The Phoenix periodically dies in a fire and the body is horribly burned and usually unrcognizable and is then reborn. In pre-20th century times, the body would be quickly buried. In 174 where Laura Collins, also known as Mrs. Roger Collins, died in a locked Phoenix, Arizona apartment, the body was taken to the morgue and through dental records, days or weeks after the body is postively identified as that of Laura, it subsequently disappeared from the morgue. It is notable though that, while the body of Laura lay in the morgue for a time in Phoenix, Arizona, another, although seemingly identical, Laura was alive and well at Collinwood.) * TIMELINE: 8pm at the start of the episode. Laura is to move into the cottage tonight. Day 290 begins, and will end in 744. Bloopers and continuity errors * Barnabas says in this episode that he found the painting of Laura in the attic. However, when he finds it in the trunk in the previous episode, he is clearly in the basement (Charity is coming down the stairs to join him.) the previous episode, Barnabas clearly said he'd had the trunk that contained the painting brought down from the attic. * There is no sound effect to accompany Sandor's first strike of his chisel against the stone of Laura's tomb. External Links Dark Shadows - Episode 740 on the IMDb Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 740 - Local Parlor Tricks Category:Dark Shadows episodes